Can you easily follow the scenes/chapters? Are they descriptive enough?

5.0

Would you recommend this book?

5.0

“Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition” ― James Baldwin There is a unique destiny and a particular path to fulfilment that we all have to discover on our own in this world. Fulfilment has in part an element often referred to as contentment, of being at peace with our life choices and how we have managed to express ourselves in the world in relation to its various options & potentialities. And even though it is something that applies to both men and women in equal measure, fulfilment as a quality is talked about more in relation to women and not of men who somehow seem to find it on their own, on their active and lonely walks of exploration away from home; only after the initial period of rest surrounded by amniotic fluid and nestled deep inside a woman that is. So it’s no surprise that it’s often a woman who has to find different ways to crack open the confining and restraining patriarchal and outdated definitions and find newer ways to express success or fulfilment. But being fulfilled isn’t a final destination, those who are truly fulfilled will keep growing and tackle newer challenges and try to celebrate a freedom that balances both the feminine values as well as reflect the inner passions of life. In author Marilyn Holdsworth’s latest novel, ‘Making Wishes’, Elloree Prince is an artist and a creative young woman who is the star employee at Wishes Inc., a greeting card company. She decides to put on hold her high rewarding job when she marries a rich businessman, Tom Randall at the end of a long and unrelenting courting by him. Elloree and Tom move into a wealthy suburb and raise a small family consisting of two young sons. But even after years of trying to fit in, Elloree finds that she isn’t able to adjust to the stifling high class living and always ends up feeling like the odd one out at such high end events. When one day, Mark Williams her old boss at Wishes Inc. calls her to offer her old job back, it not only reignites her yearning for her artistic work but it also puts her in the direct path of making a hard choice. She has to confront her aspirations for personal and professional success versus the devotion and responsibility she feels for her family. Making this tough choice soon becomes the running commentary on the life and times of a contemporary woman in today’s world. The book is divided into three parts, each reflecting the lead character’s point of reference to the overall narrative. Making Wishes touches upon a dilemma that almost every woman goes through at one point or the other in her life. Women are always expected to give up their career, promising or not in lieu of starting a family, which is something the society considers to be an all woman field of expertise and responsibility. Marilyn captures the struggle of Elloree beautifully, when she has to decide if she is going to put herself first or her family. You have got to love the way the author takes time to introduce to you all the characters and their environment. And enough space is allotted on the character development of all the major players, especially Elloree who sometimes comes across as a very complex character but we also get to see her personal growth throughout the book. Marilyn Holdsworth’s writing vividly describes the mental space her lead character Elloree goes through in living her monotonous high society life and the various tragedies that she has to undergo as a direct consequence of her choices. It is beautifully written and the author has managed to keep the pacing both dramatic and sensitive at the same time. Marilyn sometimes goes into a back story for a character or an event in the midst of the narration but fortunately the narrative moves back and forth like a well oiled machine without any jarring interference to the reader’s interest. And it’s always a good feeling when the characters don’t leave your mind even after the last pages have been turned. Marilyn’s ability to transform mundane domestic life to exhilarating passionate episodes with emotions of varying kind and a very soft and a warm ending makes ‘Making Wishes’, to use a beaten to death cliché, ‘unputdownable’ (sic) read.